[Photo: Facebook/Jesse Linden Golf]
Jesse Linden may be 14 years of age but teeing up at Augusta National in competition and being exposed regularly to the top juniors in the US has the rising Australian golf star feeling ready to tackle the biggest professional tournament he’s played in, the Ford NSW Open.
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Linden, who lives in the area, is also comforted by winning the club championships a month ago at The Vintage Golf Club in the NSW Hunter Valley, the tournament host.
“It’s so exciting; it’s at my home course, I know it back to front and I’m very grateful [for Golf NSW] to be here,” Linden told Australian Golf Digest on Wednesday at the pro-am. “At the club championships, all I did was hit fairways and greens, and rolled some putts in. I feel I could do something similar again. I’m feeling confident this week.”
That belief is fuelled by competing on massive stages at the junior golf level in the US. Last year, Linden became the first Australian to play in the Augusta National Drive, Chip and Putt competition. Created in 2014, it is a skills-based competition played the Sunday before Masters week commences.
He even smoked a drive up the famous par-4 18th as part of the challenge.
“Pretty nerve wracking,” Linden said of the dogleg right tee shot. “The takeaway [from Augusta] was how good life is to be at that golf course. It was just amazing watch some really good golfers compete. I made some new friends there. It was very nerve-wracking leading up to that day. I got to drive up Magnolia Lane which was pretty exciting. Had lunch in the clubhouse. The experiences there were incredible.”
Linden has parlayed that Augusta experience into some good form on the world junior golfing stage. Earlier in 2025, Linden made a hole in one at an American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) Adidas All Star event at Pumpking Ridge in Oregon. He led going into the final day and finished T-3.
“Playing in the US is helping me a lot; it’s a little bit of a higher level than here in Australia,” he said. “Getting more experience over there and doing Monday qualifiers to get in junior tournaments is good for me. I’d also like to go to [US] college one day.
“I just need to keep getting that experience under the belt. This year has been, I wouldn’t say the best form, but it’s been a solid year. I’ve been very grateful to go over the US several times and play well at times.
“Obviously, I had the hole in one in Oregon and a top three finish. Was very happy with that. Another one would be the Australian Junior Age Championships in Queensland, I shot 13-under-par for three rounds and won by more than 20 shots or something.”
At just 14, Linden has hustled to play regional qualifiers for this NSW Open across the state. He narrowly missed out on several attempts. He was first alternative after losing in a six-man play-off recently and was given an invitation to play this week from Golf NSW.
He says he’s more excited for the opportunity than nervous. It’s easy to see why. Australian Golf Digest walked several holes with Linden in the pro-am and saw his prodigious driving, iron play and wedge play.
“Honestly, nerves aren’t too bad, although I probably won’t get as big a crowd out here as the [Drive, Chip and Putt at Augusta],” Linden said, who tees off the 10th at The Vintage at 8.55am in Thursday’s first round alongside Josh Holbrook and Caleb Bovalina. “I know this course well and I’m just thankful to be here.”
Linden was even exposed to a nine-hole practice round on Tuesday with defending NSW Open champion, Lucas Herbert. Herbert, who plays on LIV Golf and is a winner across the PGA, DP World and Asian tours, defeated his Ripper GC captain Cam Smith to win last year’s NSW Open.
“Yeah, that was a pretty cool experience,” Linden said. “I got to have a chat with Lucas about different shots. He is playing at a really high level on LIV Golf. These professional tournaments are about gaining lots of knowledge; see what all the pros do in their processes and practice rounds. See how they prepare.”
